[OKDXA] A Good DXCluster/DXSpider?

[Kim Elmore]

Hi Coy,

Yep, I'll bet you're plenty busy as a director. I used to be the 
Colorado TC and I knew Marshall Quiat relatively well while I was in 
the Longmont/Boulder/Denver area. I was saddened at his loss. I'll 
look up Dave Duskin. I've not had any of my cards checked since I 
first got DXCC, so I'm way behind.

While piddling here (and being late to work, but hey! it's Friday) I 
finally learned how to use DXBase to filter spots to show me only 
those that I need (I never used this before, as I would only connect 
to a cluster briefly since all we had was 56k dial-up shared by me 
and my wife). Hence, filtering spots can be done locally within 
DXBase. I'm sure other loggers do this, too. I can see the raw window 
to show me general activity and propagation whenever I want. Kewl...

A good thing I got up this morning: I learned something.

Cheers,

Kim N5OP

At 09:06 AM 12/8/2006, you wrote:
>Kim,
>
>Good deal.  I'm afraid the days of the old local DX Cluster are long gone.
>  ;-)
>
>I use DX-Central at times.  Now and then AB5K will go down and I then log
>onto DX-Central.  It works real well for me as well.  I like AB5K because
>I know quite a few others that log onto it.  That makes it easier to go
>the Talk mode.
>
>There was a cluster in Dallas that was local only spots but I'll have to
>research to see if I can find it.  I didn't like it because it was only
>local.
>
>I can field check cards but choose not to because of my position as
>Director.  However, Dave Duskin, NE5S, in OKC is a card checker and I'm
>sure he would be glad to check your cards.
>
>Good hunting!
>
>Coy
>--
>Coy Day, N5OK
>20685 SW 29
>Union City, OK 73090
>405-483-5632
>
>Kim Elmore wrote:
> > Mornin' Coy!
> >
> > Well, my questions probably wasn't well posed.
> >
> > I haven't done much serious DXing for years. When I was in CO, there
> > were no Internet clusters and everything I got was off of a local DX
> > Cluster run by MHDXA. Their cluster could only "see" as far as they
> > were willing to build dedicated UHF links, so all the spots we saw
> > were from relatively local sources. Those days are long gone, but I
> > haven't kept up with cluster evolution.
> >
> > I'm aware that DXSpider is open source and in Perl and that it's
> > essentially a port of DXCluster. Some commands aren't exactly the
> > same as the old Clusetr commands, but close enough. I'm simply
> > wondering if there is a way to emulate the old, limited-scope
> > DXClusters, and your answer tells me that as close as I can get is to
> > cleverly use filters.
> >
> > I use DXBase as my logging program -- which I suppose makes me a bit
> > of an oddball because I chose not to use freeware logging software --
> > and it has some nice Internet cluster features. I chose DXBase
> > because at the time because none of the freeware loggers did what I
> > wanted. They probably do now, but I haven't looked. Since I now have
> > a fully computer-capable radio, I'm finding that I use these features
> > and like them.
> >
> > So, the hunt is on for a good Internet cluster site. I'm currently
> > using N0VD-8, which is DXCentral Node 2 (if what they say in their
> > login header is right).
> >
> > You are certainly right about seeing activity of a station
> > world-wide, even if we can't hear it. That's a good point and one
> > I'll have to keep in mind. I need to make some tools to allow me to
> > find operating patterns for some stations to help me in the hunt.
> >
> > I'll give AB5K a look!
> >
> > Cheers,
> >
> > Kim N5OP
> >
> > P.S.: Are you one if the DXCC field-checkers?  I need to gather up my
> > new ones and get my totals up to date.
> >
> > At 08:27 AM 12/8/2006, you wrote:
> >>Kim,
> >>
> >>Good morning.  I'm a little confused about your question.  (but then, I'm
> >>still on my first cup of coffee)  DXSpider is a DX Cluster program with
> >>open source code.  That means you can dink with it if you know how to
> >>program in Perl.
> >>
> >>Some prefer to connect to a DX Cluster such as AB5K and others like to
> >>keep a window open with DX Summit, DX Watch or the like.  DX Summit has
> >>been sick lately so I don't recommend it right now.  Take a look at
> >>DXWATCH.COM.  What it does is send you a summary of what has been
> >> spotted.
> >>  It does this about once a minute.  It also stores all the data which is
> >>searchible.  I find that feature very valuable.
> >>
> >>If you are connected to a DX Cluster, you are correct in that you can set
> >>up filters to receive only certain spots.  The filtering system has many
> >>combinations that you can implement.  I prefer leaving mine open except
> >>for frequencies on 2 meters and above.  I do have to put up with a lot of
> >>Euro and JA, etc. spots but I know when a station is active and it helps
> >>me watch for them.  This has been particularly true of the VU7 operation
> >>when they are working Euro's and the band suddenly opens up to the
> >> states.
> >>
> >>Hope this helps.
> >>
> >>Coy
> >>--
> >>Coy Day, N5OK
> >>20685 SW 29
> >>Union City, OK 73090
> >>405-483-5632
> >>
> >>Kim Elmore wrote:
> >> > So, which ones do you prefer?  Are they all more-or-less linked
> >> > together, or are there some that limit themselves to regional traffic?
> >> >
> >> > I find about half the stuff I work without them, but I'd like to see
> >> > one that shows spots mainly from our region. I could set up filters
> >> > for seeing spots that originate only in the US, but I'm wondering if
> >> > there's another way. On the other hand, maybe I'm just a luddite...
> >> >
> >> > To be sure, seeing spots world-wide is sometimes useful, but
> >> > propagation vagaries make posts from my region more useful to me.
> >> >
> >> > Kim Elmore, N5OP
> >> >
> >> > _______________________________________________
> >> > OKDXA mailing list
> >> > OKDXA at mailman.qth.net
> >> > http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/okdxa
> >> >
> >> >
> >>
> >>_______________________________________________
> >>OKDXA mailing list
> >>OKDXA at mailman.qth.net
> >>http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/okdxa
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > OKDXA mailing list
> > OKDXA at mailman.qth.net
> > http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/okdxa
> >
> >
>
>_______________________________________________
>OKDXA mailing list
>OKDXA at mailman.qth.net
>http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/okdxa